New Vehicle Import Regulations – Implementation DELAYED

Well… we suspected this was coming from the lack of progress updates from the Govt. in recent months.

Before going on, it has to be said – they’ve ONLY had 5 years to prepare for this.

* Deep breath * OK, so moving on…

Here is what we are dealing with -> the Govt. has officially announced it is unable to meet the 10 Dec 2019 implementation deadline and needs more time.

We believe the main issue is creating the IT framework that will operate the new system plus has to communicate with separate systems in each State and Territory for recording vehicle data.

Now, this has only just been announced and Department staff appear understandably red-faced about the delay, which is no doubt embarrassing after such a lengthy build up.

How long is the expected delay ?

Between 6 and 18 months, ie. new implementation date between 1 July 2020 to 1 July 2021.

The Road Vehicle Standards Legislation Amendment Bill 2019 is set to be introduced to Parliament soon – this provides a new ‘final’ deadline of 1 July 2021 (if not implemented sooner).

Now, this may not necessarily delay availability of the new models we have all been waiting for under an updated SEVS and the new 25 Year Rule.

A logical approach would be a ‘soft start’ to the new import scheme. Certain changes could still apply from 10 Dec 2019 as planned – such as the 25 Year Rule.

The six new model eligibility criteria for the new SEVS could also be adopted and used, just operating under the current SEVS structure on an interim basis until the new backend is ready.

This would allow the promised changes to effectively take place as scheduled for businesses and the consumer, even before the full framework is in place.

Industry groups are already in discussions with the Govt. behind the scenes and these will continue over coming weeks to effect a workable solution for all parties.

We will report again when further news becomes available.

Read about the New Vehicle Import Regulations for Australia here